8.2.20

BLOG TOUR, BOOK REVIEW - Snowball by Gregory Bastianelli



Twas the night before Christmas and instead of being in their warm homes watching the crap that passes for Christmas tv these days or being out celebrating the festive season with friends. A snowplow driver, a truck driver, a troubleshooter and his wife, a single mother and her two young children, a alcoholic Salvation Army worker, a young couple, a elderly couple and two childhood friends have found themselves stranded on a secluded highway during a severe blizzard. As time passes and the snow shows no signs of easing, tempers start to frey and decisions have to be made but no one can agree what they should do next. Eventually the two childhood friends decide to investigate the snowplow which is when they make a shocking discovery. The group of virtual strangers swiftly finds themselves caught up in a living nightmare,tightening for their lives whilst being hunted by savage killers who are lurking amongst the trees. It soon becomes apparent that for some of the travellers this is going to be their last Christmas.....Alive

This spine tingling story will probably remind readers who are old enough to remember of the disaster movies of the 70s or a horror anthology where all the characters have their own individual back stories and hidden secrets. There is always a really annoying character who constantly gets on your nerves but always manages to survive until towards the end of the film or story. There is usually characters that you like, characters who are just pathetic selfish cowards, characters who surprise you when they do something out of character and characters who are just secondary background characters. Well they are all present amongst this mixed bunch of relatable individuals who have found themselves trapped in a terrifying nightmare and fighting the elements and frightening creatures. But are these particular people in this situation by pure coincidence or is there more to the situation than here appeared to be? I really loved the setting for this book, the isolated highway that was surrounded by trees, I always feel that woods and forests add a sinister atmosphere to a book especially if the story is set during the night. The mysterious house that was hidden amongst the trees and had many secrets hidden within its walls.

Wow,this really is a spine chilling, roller coaster ride that is packed full of twists and turns, some seriously intense moments,quite a few gory deaths and a brilliant ending that could have come straight from a episode of Tales Of The Unexpected or The Twilight Zone. It is cleverly written and has short,snappy chapters which give the reader a very bad case of just one more chapter syndrome. You start the book wondering how the title fits into the story but it becomes clear just how clever the author has been as the story unfolds. I would love to watch a film adaptation of this enthralling book. Very very highly recommended

                                                                         AUTHOR BIO



Gregory Bastianelli is the author of the novels Loonies and Jokers Club. His stories have appeared in the magazines Black Ink Horror, Sinister Tales and Beyond Centauri; the anthologies Night Terrors IICover of Darkness and Encounters; and the online magazines Absent Willow Review and Down in the Cellar.  His novella The Lair of the Mole People appeared in the pulp anthology Men & Women of Mystery Vol. II.

He graduated from the University of New Hampshire where he studied writing under instructors Mark Smith, Thomas Williams and Theodore Weesner. He worked for nearly two decades at a small daily newspaper where the highlights of his career were interviewing shock rocker Alice Cooper and B-movie icon Bruce Campbell. 

He became enchanted with the stories of Ray Bradbury as a young child, and his love of horror grew with the likes of Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell.

He lives in Dover, NH, in a Colonial home built in the 1700s. He enjoys kayaking, hiking and bicycling in the summer and snowshoeing and racquetball in the winter. Along with spending time with family, he enjoys traveling, especially to Italy where he has visited his ancestral home and relatives residing there and hiked the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast and to the top of Mt. Vesuvius.

PUBLICATION DATE: 30th January 2020
PRINT LENGTH: 256 Pages
PUBLISHER: Flame Tree Press
ASIN: BO82VGLV18
GENRE: Horror Thriller

PURCHASE LINK...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snowball-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-Bastianelli-ebook/dp/B082VGLV18/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AYCEFNC1AXF8&keywords=snowball+gregory+bastianelli&qid=1581192738&s=books&sprefix=snowball+by+gre%2Cstripbooks%2C172&sr=1-1


DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE THOUGHTS OF THE OTHER BLOGGERS WHO HAVE STOPS ON THIS BLOG TOUR





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